Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

On the €79,493,000 spent on private consultancy firms for strategic planning and business improvement which, if not spent there, would fund 1,865 therapy posts, 2,354 medical secretary posts or 1,334 psychology posts, how is that measured? Was the consultancy work required, would it have had to be provided in-house, or was it subcontracted out to people with expertise in that area, presumably to take the pressure off staff within the services in-house? What is the strategy there?